Different Voice
A CONVERSATION WITH
HISTORIAN DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN
Leadership
Lessons
from
Abraham
Lincoln
Tony Rinaldo
IN JANUARY 2008,
CBS anchor Katie Couric
asked Barack Obama which one book he would
take with him to the White House, apart from
the Bible. The eventual winner of the presidential election singled out Team of Rivals, Doris
Kearns Goodwin’s 2005 best-selling account of
President Abraham Lincoln’s leadership during
the Civil War.
In the months following his election victory, President
Obama has made it clear that he is modeling his leadership
on the style of his presidential predecessor from Illinois. By
bringing heavyweight politicians who are themselves past
and future presidential contenders into his cabinet, Obama
has reprised Lincoln’s strategy of creating a team composed
of his most able rivals, people who are unafraid to take
issue with him and are confident of their own leadership
abilities.
